In The Arms of Death
by Taiyou no Yume
Summary: Percy and Annabeth finally reach the Doors of Death but at least one of them has to stay to close it an that person will be trapped in there until they find another way out. Annabeth is determined to stay together but will Percy, loyal Percy, allow her to give up everything unnecessarily?
1. Chapter 1: Gone Forever?

**In The Arms of Death**

**Chapter 1: Gone Forever?**

**Annabeth's POV**

"We're here!" Annabeth exclaimed breathlessly as she pointed towards the large doors at the end.

Annabeth had expected the Doors of Death to look, well, deadly, but they were made out of pristine grey-white marble and carved with beautifully crafted designs, the only problem was that the pictures were of all the terrifying monsters they had seen in Tartatrus.

Had she been more carefree Annabeth might even have taken some notes on the architecture of the doors but right now fear was coursing through her veins, making it impossible to think of anything but the monsters probably on their way here, the little stunt Percy had pulled with the small lake they found wasn't going to last for very long.

She shivered at the thought and tried to walk forward on her own as Percy was sitting on a nearby boulder catching his breath but she staggered forward and would've hugged the floor with her face if Percy hadn't caught her by her waist just in time.

"Easy there Wise Girl," he swept her off her feet and carried her princess style instead of the shoulder supporting he has been doing the whole trip.

She didn't protest, the injury on her foot had hurt like hell (no pun intended) after the Hydra's poisonous fangs sunk into her leg. They had no ambrosia and the wound was getting worse by the second, along with her health.

She leaned into his chest and he gave her a peck on the forehead. She allowed herself to enjoy the moment for now. The monsters were probably still coughing out water from the whirlpool Percy had created in the lake they passed by earlier when they were being chased so she could relax a little, for now. Enjoy her boyfriend's company as much as she could and while she could.

"Annabeth, you know the Doors have to be closed by both sides right?" Percy asked gently, breaking the silence.

She gripped his shirt, the sentence suddenly coming as a hard blow, knocking all the wind out of her chest.

Annabeth knew that, of course she did, she was the daughter of Athena for crying out loud! But she had been ignoring it up till now. She refused to admit that she and Percy were going to be stuck down here until they die. And now tears pricked her eyes at that thought.

"Yes," she choked out, "I know that."

Percy took a worried glance at her but she rambled on, "It doesn't matter, we'll be fine, as long as we're together right? We'll be able to live down here together, we will survive this and find another way out after we close the doors. I'm sure we will," she proclaimed though the tone of her voice said otherwise.

He sighed, "Wise Girl, you and I both know we'll die down here," she opened her mouth to protest feebly but he refused to let her have a chance to do so,"So, I need you to do something for me; when we reach there, I want you to run out to Nico and the rest. I want you to move as fast as you can before I close the doors. There's no reason we both have to stay here. You have a life full of potential out there for you, there's no reason you have to give it up. So when it opens you have to run," Percy whispered, and Annabeth could see he was obviously torn about the choice.

Annabeth was stunned into silence before she exploded, "No!" she screamed hitting him roughly on the chest with her fist, "How could you even say that? How can I leave when you are here Seaweed Brain? There is a reason for me to stay here; you! It won't be the same without! Please, don't make me leave Percy, I love you too much, I can't leave you behind," she sobbed as she pounded in his chest.

She wouldn't allow it. There's no way she's leaving Percy, the guy she loves more than anything, here in hell. For one thing she wasn't about to let him die and for another her life wouldn't be complete without him in it. Without his annoying, brainless comments and sweet kisses everything would be empty. They've been together for so long he became a necessity in her life, if someone were to take him away it would be like Annabeth had lost a part of herself along with him. She didn't think she would be strong enough to carry on by herself. No, they couldn't separate, not when they went through so much to be with each other again.

Percy put her down and she vaguely noticed that they were already at the doors and she could see her friends at the other end all poised and ready to close it.

He placed and arm around her and comforted her, "I know Wise Girl, and I love you too, more than you can imagine. It won't be the same without you in my life. Come on, lets close this together and end it. We'll make it somehow," he whispered.

She nodded her head and stood up to close the doors when she heard a hissing behind her. Thank the gods for Percy's fast reflexes or Annabeth would have became another dead body on the floor. A head of a basilisk rolled across the floor right in front of Annabeth. Lovely spoil of war.

She shivered again and Percy supported her to the doors where she grabbed onto the handle. She could feel the energy radiating from the door like the Athena Parthenos had and suddenly her leg didn't hurt as much. Just when her spirits were rising that they might make it through after all, she heard a loud rumble and realized something; Basilisk brought friends.

A whole stampede of animals were making their way towards them, making the ground shake and rumble.

One panicked glance towards Percy was enough to convey the message between them; they had to do this fast if they didn't want to be monster snacks.

She was all ready to close it but before that, Percy grabbed her by the waist again and brought his lips crashing down towards hers.

She was stunned but understood; this may be their last kiss, they had to make it last.

She tangled her hands through his messy hair and he pressed against her back to bring her closer.

When they rumbling sound got too close for comfort they broke apart and with a 'I love you' went toward the handles of the door and pushed it close, the others must have seen it cause they started pushing too.

It was easier said than done. The stupid doors must have been made out of five hundred pounds of marble because it moved too slowly for Annabeth's liking, and the monsters were coming closer.

She pushed harder and the door moved more, but she knew it wasn't from her, she peeped outside and saw the faint out line of something huge and guesses that Frank had morphed into something to help speed up the miserable process.

Just as there was only a crack small enough for a human to fit through, Percy stopped pushing and Annabeth felt her stomach drop, she had a feeling about what was going to happen next.

"N-No, Percy, please, you swore you wouldn't," she begged.

He glanced at her with tear filled eyes and kissed her again, but this was too short for her taste.

"I love you so much Wise Girl, don't you ever forget that," he said to her and brushed a strand of her golden lock out of her face.

And with a quick kiss on her forehead her moved her to the door easily with a princess carry.

"I'm sorry Annabeth," he whispered with tears pouring down his face and pushed her out the door.

She heard him yell for the others to catch her but all she could do was stare at he door as it began to close again.

She stumbled back and was caught by Piper, but she didn't care, the door wasn't close yet, she could still make it.

"NO! NO! Percy!" she screamed with tears pouring down her face as she struggled against Piper's strong grip.

"Annabeth, stop, it's no use," Piper whispered to her and Annabeth could hear the tears in her voice but she still tried to struggle.

Finally, when she elbowed Piper in the gut and she released her she rushed forward but just as she touched the doors it slammed shut and all she could see was a single sea green eye staring back at her with guilt, regret, sadness and love. And all she could do was watch as her favorite sea green eyes along with her one true love disappeared behind the Doors of Death forever.


	2. Chapter 2: Five Stages of Grief

**Here's a new chapter I hope y'all like it! I know this seems like a very depressing story but I hope you will stick with me till the end of this! Thank you for reviewing for those who did in the previous chapter! So without further delay here you go, chapter 2.**

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**In The Arms of Death**

**Chapter 2: Five Stages of Grief**

**Piper's POV**

Piper watched as Annabeth pounded at the heavy marble doors mercilessly and trying to pull it open. Nobody else moved a muscle, they all knew it was too late, there was nothing they could do.

Piper winced again and again as Annabeth banged the door till her fingers bruised. She wasn't crying. She couldn't, she was going through the first stage of grief right now; denial.

She grabbed Annabeth's hand and held it tight, looking straight into her eyes and pouring all her charm speak into her words, "Annabeth, you need to stop this now."

Unwillingly, Piper saw her drop her hands but her stormy grey eyes kept darting towards the door, "Why are you making me stop Piper? Percy's in there, he's waiting for us, I have to go and get him," she persisted.

Piper sighed, these stages usually took forever to get over but they didn't have the time, charm speak will have to help for now, "Annabeth, he's trapped inside, face it, there's nothing you can do about it," she said and saw Annabeth's eyes widen in realization.

Then, she broke free of Piper's first spell and started to pound and kick the door again before cursing at the heavens. Then all of a sudden she broke down into a heap of sobbing mess on the floor and Piper was quick to hug her.

It seemed like everyone else was stunned at her and didn't know how to help her. They have all lost someone, someone they loved, someone they cared about. But none of them had experienced the loss of their one true love. Hazel came close but she was the one that died, not Sammy. Nobody knew how to handle this, except Piper. She suspected it was because he was Aphrodite's daughter and this knew the stages of grief and how to deal with it. It seemed that Annabeth had mashed up anger, bargaining and depression all together as she cried.

"Why did they take Percy? Why?! He saved the world so many times! He's done so much good! It's not fair! They can't take him away from me again! Why can't we just be together for once?" she cried, "I'll do anything! You can even take me instead! Just please give Percy back! Give me back my Seaweed brain," she pleaded to the sky but nothing happened, no rumble no lightning.

Finally she placed her face into her hands and cried, hard, "Percy oh Percy. My Seaweed Brain. Oh gods, he's gone. He can't come back. My Seaweed Brain's gone forever. We barely got any time as a couple together, why? Why?" she sobbed, "I love you Percy, I love you I swear I'll never forget you. I'm sorry for all the times I was mad at you. I should have loved you more," tears were streaming freely down her face and Piper felt helpless at this moment.

She could speed up the process but this was the part Annabeth had to do by herself. She had to accept it. Charm speak can wear off and then they'll just be back at square one again. No. She had to get this over by herself.

So, as Piper opened her mouth to speak again she didn't use any magic in her words, "Annabeth, I know it's hard. But there's nothing you can do. He can't come back. You and I both know that, you just have to accept it, he wouldn't have wanted you to be so miserable. So please," she begged.

Annabeth just kept sobbing and it was then Piper noticed how frail her friend looked. Her usually bright blonde hair seemed a sickly shade of yellow and her cheeks were sunken in, her skin was chalky white that had angry red marks all over the place and her normally confident stormy grey eyes were lost and broken. Plus, there was a huge bite mark on her leg that was swelling up and Jason, who Piper didn't even see come, was pouring ambrosia over. She shot him a grateful smile before turning back to her friend.

Piper hugged Annabeth tighter and stroked her hair like her father used too when she was a lot smaller, "It's going to be okay, believe me, it won't go away, not ever, but it'll get better Annabeth, I know it will," she comforted the blonde girl, she knew sugar coating the words would do Annabeth no good, so she didn't try and sweeten her words.

"I know, I know. But it hurts Piper, it hurts so bad," she sobbed, sounding like a scared kid.

Piper knew she was beginning to accept it already and so decided to use her charm speak again, "Its good that you have accepted it Annabeth. Now, you are going to go to sleep peacefully with your favorite memory of you and Percy together, and when you wake up, you will remember everything, but you will be fine because you know that it will be okay," she said and as soon as she finished her sentence Annabeth went limp.

When Piper was sure she was out, she motioned for Jason to help carry her into her room in the Argo II.

After she was settled, Piper allowed her walls to fall and as did everyone else. Tears rained down from everyone's eyes as realization hit them like a ten ton chariot. Percy wasn't ever coming back to them.

"I can't believe he's gone," Leo whispered, leaning against the wall and running a hand through his curly brown locks in a dazed manner, the waterworks still not stopping.

Hazel shook her head fiercely, sending her golden brown curls flying everywhere, "Percy's not gone! He's a strong fighter. As he has always been, he's fighting them off right now. He's alive," she said, almost proudly of her almost brother, even with the sheer amount of tears streaming down her face she tried to remain positive.

"But he's not going to make it," came Nico's soft voice, "There's too many, there's no way he can make it unless a miracle happens."

Piper wanted to scream at Nico for saying such a thing but she knew it was true.

Piper knows that if they loose him, more like when they loose him, they might just fall apart. He was like the glue that kept them together, they wouldn't be able to function without him.

Jason hugged Piper and tried to calm her down as he himself mourned over the son of the sea god.

Piper herself and Jason knew the guy the least but he was practically family to them even with their short time together. She couldn't imagine what it would be like for Frank and Hazel who had more adventures with him than she had. And Nico, that poor boy is going to be shattered. Percy was like a brother to him, he already lost his sister and was going to loose his new found one too, Percy might just be the last straw for him.

Annabeth. Annabeth was who she was most worried for. She and Percy were meant to be. If there was such things as soulmates, other halves of yourself, red strings tied to your pinky and whatnot, they would be that couple. They were best friends and lovers, Annabeth might just loose it all together.

They had been sitting there for awhile now and Piper kept blaming herself for this, if she never made that stupid wish that Jason be spared then Percy might still be with them. Eating his favorite blue food, talking with the horses, cracking stupid jokes while irritating and kissing Annabeth at the same time.

But she wouldn't let herself mope over it. Percy was going to die and there was nothing they could do.

Just then, she heard soft footsteps and Annabeth appeared at the doorway, her face tear streaked and eyes red rimmed, but her voice didn't shake as she spoke, if anything she sounded more determined than ever, "We have to complete this quest no matter what. Not for the gods, I couldn't give a Centaurs crap about them anymore. We have to do this for our friends at the camps and for the mortals. We have to do this for Percy," although she sounded angry, Piper could tell that it wasn't because she had revisited the anger stage. Annabeth had accepted it and she was moving on.

Piper smiled at her friend and unsheathed Katropis and held it upwards, "For Percy," she declared.

Annabeth shot her a grateful look before unsheathing her own dagger which she must have recovered after the fall and held it high, "For Percy," she agreed.

Jason took out his sword and Leo, Frank, Hazel and Nico followed suit, "For Percy."

Piper could feel the determination in everybody, they were going to win this. And, as Annabeth said, not for the gods but for their friend Percy.


	3. Chapter 3: Hope

**In The Arms of Death 3**

**Chapter 3: Hope**

**Nico's POV**

Percy wasn't going to make it unless someone got to him within the next four hours, nine at the most. Nico could feel it in his gut and he knew Hazel could too, it sucked being the child if Hades (or Pluto, whatever you want to call him, the stinking god was equally foolish in both forms really). But neither of them wanted to say anything about it lest they made everyone more depressed than they already were. So, as they kept their weapons away they kept their mouth clamped shut and River Tears under tight control to prevent an over flood of unwanted emotions.

Nico personally felt like hell right now, it was all his fault Percy is stuck there now. If only he had gotten to them in time to pull them up then maybe it wouldn't have been Percy, it could've been Nico, he was more than willing to make that trade. He had so much less to loose than Percy.

Percy had a girlfriend (his other half more like it really), family and all his friends to go back to. Nico on the other hand only had some friends and his family was all dead, save Hazel, but even she would have to pass on when they finished this quest. Plus he had actually been in hell before, he was prepared for what will come. He nearly lost his mind when he went down there, there was no reason anyone else had to go through that. Also, he was the hold of Hades, he had some power down there, and as for Percy, unless he found a water source, he was powerless.

If only he hasn't gotten himself captured. If only he wasn't so weak. If only he could switch with Percy. That's all the thoughts that float around his brain now of days. It just made him more and more depressed for not being able to do anything resourceful in his weakened state. He tried to be as helpful as he could, after all, the crew didn't need an extra baggage to weigh them down when they already have so much on their plate.

He was so mulled up in his brooding that he was startled when he heard Annabeth's clear voice ring through the room.

"We need a battle plan," Annabeth announced as she marched to the center of the room, directing Nico out if his depressing thoughts and immediately having the full attention of everyone in the room, even the super ADHD Leo had stopped tinkering with everything.

Nico had always admired that about Annabeth, her confidence in everything. She could hold the entire world in the palm of her hand and she didn't even know it. Nico even admittedly had a little crush on her when he was younger but now she only felt like a sister. She belonged to Percy and no one else.

At the thought of him again Nico felt sadness overcome him. How were they going to do this without him?

Despite the feeling that it would be next to impossible, Nico contributed as much as he could as they discussed the plan for the next one hour. It gave him a something to redirect his thoughts to and to stop thinking about Percy for now. He was grateful for the break and knew everyone else on board was most likely feeling that way too, perhaps that's why Annabeth did it in the first place, to ease the pain a little.

Nico was keeping track of Percy that was for sure, the son of the sea god was actually doing really well, but Nico could still feel Percy's life force slipping away with every passing minute. But he was holding off a lot better than anyone put in that situation would, Percy was by far one of the strongest demigods in history, he might be able to hold out longer than Nico thought. Maybe they could make it to save him again.

Nico shook his head, he couldn't think about it, if he did he would break down right then and there, hope may just be the only thing worst than misery itself. If he allowed himself to even think for a minute that Percy might survive then realize in the end that he had died Nico would loose it. There was only so little that was holding Nico together in one piece right now. Most of him had broken during his journey in Tartarus and what little that remained almost all died when Percy became trapped in there forever.

Percy was the brother Nico never had the chance to have and it was his fault they were down there. But Annabeth was right, (then again when was she ever wrong?) they had to finish this quest even if all they wanted to do was march straight down into Tartarus and haul Percy out of there. Percy wouldn't have wanted that, he knew what he was sacrificing when he pushed Annabeth out and closed the door. They had to do this quest, for him.

Nico didn't know how Percy could have been so selfless, Annabeth is his world, how could he be so selfless to give up his world to protect the cruel place called earth that had thrown more Minotaur dung at him than Nico could count. How could he give up everything for them?

Nico didn't think he could do such a thing in a million years, but Percy would be Percy, he would do whatever it would take to protect the people he loves, no matter how much pain and misery it may cause him.

When they had the plan ready, Leo started up the engine of the Argo II and they flew away from the House of Hades, and Nico watched as the Doors if Death faded in the distance.

"We'll come back for you Seaweed Brain, so just hold on for us okay?" he heard Annabeth whisper as she stared outside at the spot where the doors were, her hands habitually fingering the seashell on her camp bead necklace that had miraculously survived hell out of habit.

Nico found himself smiling slightly, there was still a chance left, Percy could fend them off for awhile, he was skilled, they could still come back for him and save him.

Nico started to feel a happy warmth fill his body and thought that maybe hope wasn't so bad after all, it gave them the strength to go on even without him. It gave them the push they needed to strive on.

They would find a way to save Percy and the world. He gave up everything to protect them, it's time they return the favor.


	4. ChapTer 4: To storm or fire part 1

**In The Arms Of Death 4**

**Chapter 4: To storm or fire the world must fall (Part 1: Seventh wheel no more) **

**Leo's POV**

Leo grumbled some Ancient Greek curses as he grabbed a cup of water and splashed it over Buford for the fifth time that hour. Buford spluttered indignantly and Leo mumbled an apology, already working on the charred surface of the flying table...again.

Then, he went back to his post and tried very, very hard to control his emotions lest he set fire to the whole ship. His emotions were out of control right not and he couldn't control his powers. After he had charred about five sets of his clothes the fire had suddenly attacked Buford and the flying table was getting quite pissed with him but Leo was more afraid it might spread to the ship.

They were nearing the battle ground but all Leo could think about was Percy. He wonders if he could've prevented his friends from falling into Tartarus, by, I don't know, not destroying the Roman camp in the first place.

He was so angry and fed up with himself that if he wasn't he only one who could operate this ship fully he would've thrown himself overboard by now.

And the worse part was Leo didn't want to be so angry. He should be sad or stunned, not angry. But all he could feel was absolute fury (no not the three demons that would be weird) bubbling in his veins.

The gods had been messing with his life since he had been born and he was royally sick of it. They Percy suffer so much when all he did was help people. The kid already saved the world so many times, how much more suffering did they need to put him through?

Happy Go Lucky Leo is taking a break right now and he'll be right back after Rage Leo gets even with a certain Earth Goddess and all the other gods/giants for that matter.

"We're arriving," he heard someone's sore voice whisper from behind him, bringing him out of his thoughts.

He turned to see Annabeth and his eyes immediately soften at the sight. She was a mess to say the least, her blonde hair was sticking up in places and her eyes were swollen and puffy. But at least she didn't have dried blood on her body since she washed up.

"Hey, we're going to get him back you understand me? No matter what," he said determinedly, albeit awkwardly, not used to the usually strong girl's broken form.

"I know," she said, fingering the bead necklace again.

Just then, a loud beeping from Leo's monitor interrupted their silence and he cursed again.

"This is as far as we can go," he announced grimly to everyone who had filed out to the decks when they heard the noise.

He heard Hazel choke on a sob in the corner. Sensing everyone's sadness, he tried to crack a joke, "Well at least we didn't crash land!"

He spoke too soon.

The ship had been hovering in the air and as though Gaia had heard them (which she probably did) it went spiraling downwards.

"Festus! What's going on?!" he yelled o the bronze headed dragon.

The bronze head made a series of rushed creaks and squeaks with bits of morse codes imbedded into it and Leo swore loudly, there was some sort of magical barrier around Gaia's hideout and it apparently killed his ship engine.

"Get inside now guys!" Leo yelled to his friends.

It didn't need to be said twice and they scrambled into the door and Leo stayed behind, trying to give them a softer landing.

Damn, this was like Midas's lair all over again.

Leo yanked hard at his game console to try and tilt the flying boat upwards to steady the fall. And it worked, well, at least until the joystick snapped clean off the console.

Leo cursed, he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately, and threw the broken handle in the ground before immediately rummaging through his tool belt to fix it but he knew that it wasn't going to help much and stopped.

The ground was coming onwards them and fast. If they crashed at this speed, even with the Argo II they will definitely be injured pretty badly and Leo didn't think they would have enough ambrosia, plus they still had a battle to fight here. He had to get them off now.

He ran towards where the others were at, "Jason, Frank, grab everyone and get them out of here now!" Leo barked and they nodded their heads, Frank morphed into a huge dragon and picked up Hazel, Annabeth and Nico while Jason grabbed Piper.

"Come on Leo, we have to go!" Jason yelled over the roaring of the wind.

Leo shook his head and yelled back, "I have to find a way to stabilize everything. Go!"

Without so much as a backward glance, Leo sprinted towards the engine room, ignoring the cries from Jason to come back. When he reached he took a glance at everything and bit back a cry of frustration. Whatever spell Gaia had done, it had completely fried his engine.

He silently thanked that they had flew up high just before this so he had more time as he began working. Time seemed to past by slowly but he knew it had only been seconds since the others left and he was about done with the main engine, he didn't have the equipment to do the rest so it'll have to do for now. He tinkered some more and pulled out tools that he needed and within two more seconds it was done. But within that two seconds the ship was already only a building height away from crashing.

He pressed some more buttons on his game console rapidly, like he was actually playing a game. Well maybe it was, it was called The Gods Mess With The Demigods Lives For Fun Because Their Nothing But Puny Wimps Hiding Behind Big Titles And Now It's Time To Get Even...okay so he was a little ticked off and wanted to kick their godly hides, but can you blame him?

The ship started to stabilize itself and the engine shuddered before Leo felt the Argo II start to tilt back upwards.

He breathed a sigh of relief and scurried to the deck where he lowered the ship onto the ground. Okay, maybe lower wasn't the right word. The engine may have started again but it was still a rough ride and Leo was pretty sure the the boat was damaged pretty badly. And he found himself sprawled on the floor, just inches away from falling off completely.

He stood up and brushed himself off, taking a scan if all the debris around him. Great, just great, now he needs to do a major repair job.

Just then, he heard a groan and his head snapped in the direction of it and was shocked to see a mop of blonde hair.

He rushed forward and pulled Jason out of the fallen wooden planks, "What are you doing here Sparky? I thought I told you to get off!"

Jason groaned again and Leo winced, seeing the deep red gash on his friends head, "Had to go and get you," Jason wheezed between painful breathes.

Leo was shocked, I mean he knew Jason was one of his best buddies but to risk his life to save Leo really meant a lot to him.

"Thanks man," Leo mumbled, "Come on, let's get you healed up."

Leo pulled out a flask of ambrosia out from his tool belt and poured the godly substance over his friends wound and it healed up nicely.

He helped Jason up and Piper was immediately by their side, supporting him. They ushered him into the sick bay which was just shaken up with no sign of falling debris and put him on the bed.

After checking her boyfriend over for more wounds an him insisting that he was fine, Piper moved over to Leo.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently.

"Sheesh, Beauty Queen I'm fine, worry more about Sparky over there, he's the one that's bleeding," Leo joked, trying to lighten the mood even if he was in anything but a happy mood.

"I didn't mean physically Leo, I could tell, we all could tell that you have been off since Percy-" she gulped, holding back tears, "since he left us. I need to know if you're okay. Despite what you may think we all call about you and you're starting to worry us. I think you may be taking it as bad as Annabeth," she joked too.

He grinned, but it immediately disappeared, "It's my fault Pipes," he sighed and sat down on the grass beside Jason, running a hand through his hair.

"No it's not," came Jason's clear voice, despite the injury, "It's not your fault Leo. You didn't do anything wrong."

He shook his head with a broken smile on his face, "It so is, if I hadn't blasted the Roman camp then maybe-"

"Maybe what?" Piper cut him off with a hand on her hip and Leo resisted the urge to grin at how much she looked like his mother, "Let's say we made friends with them but then what? They couldn't follow us on the trip, we already have the seven of us, now adding Nico and not forgetting Coach Hedge. Even if they could help us it wouldn't have been much, it has to be the seven of us that ends this. So it isn't your fault Leo, you didn't do anything wrong. There's no point blaming yourself, trust me on that."

Leo saw Jason grin at his girlfriends speech in the corner of his eyes as he playfully punched Leo in the shoulder, "She's right man. It's not your fault, it's nobody's fault. Right now we just have to defeat Gaia and get it over and done with."

Leo snorted, though he was smiling, "Yeah, like that's going to be a walk in the park."

"But we will do it," Piper said, and unknowingly her voice had a little charm speak in it, making Leo believe it too.

He grinned lopsidedly before hauling Piper and the now recovered Jason to their feet, slinging his arm around them, just like old times, "Yeah, we will. And thanks guys."

They grinned at him and said simultaneously, "No problem Hot Stuff."

He groaned, they were never going to let that go were they?

But still together they walked towards the rest of the crew and Leo didn't even turn his head back once to look at his broken vessel, the exact vessel he had slaved over for months. He may be the son if Hephaestus but that didn't necessarily meant he inherited his dad's inability to communicate with other organic forms, he just had been bluffing himself this whole time, letting Gaia get to him. He never had any problems making friends until he suddenly got claimed. Being the son of Hephaestus did not define him, he was the definition of himself and he had that best friends in the world and to him that was all that really mattered.


	5. Chapter 5: To Storm or Fire Part 2

**Okay, first thing first, I am so so so so so so sorry for the super late update I was really busy this ****month, moving house, exam stress etc and I just plain lost inspiration for this story. I know sounds really shallow but I was disappointed at the lack of response but then I snapped out of it and realised nothing was going to change unless i did something about it and there are people out there that like this story, I should update for their sake too. Again, deepest aplogies and I hope you haven't given up on this story! Well, my rambling ends here, hope you enjoy!  
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**In The Arms of Death 5**

**Chapter 5: To storm or fire the world must fall (Part 2: The Sky's The Limit)**

**Leo's POV**

Leo only had to help Jason for awhile till the ambrosia finished its job and he could walk by himself, well more like with Piper since the stubborn daughter of Aphrodite refused to let her boyfriend strain himself.

When the presence of Gaia grew stronger, Annabeth suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"Di immortals," she cursed.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked, his stomach sinking to rock bottom, already expecting the worst.

"This is Atlas's mountain. Leo are you sure you got the right place?" she demanded, panicking.

"Yeah, can't you feel Gaia's power getting stronger?" Leo asked, a little offended by her doubts.

"I can, but this isn't right. Why would Gaia want to build her army here?" Annabeth mumbled to herself.

Suddenly, she froze, "When earth and sky met they gave birth to the Titans, gods and giants...oh no," she breathed.

"What? What's wrong?" Leo demanded, he looked around and he saw that everyone seemed to have realized it but him.

"She wants to give birth to a completely new race, one that will end everything," Piper whispered.

Leo's blood ran cold as realization dawned on him, a new race. No, they couldn't. Not after they sacrificed so much to defeat the giants (A/N: okay, I know I didn't write that they did but let's just say it happened before Annabeth and Percy escaped.) now they had to deal with a whole new legion?

Jason cut in, "It doesn't matter what her plan is. We will stop her before it."

They nodded determinedly and together they walked towards the mountain.

Leo gasped when they reached the top and it was probably only because of Annabeth's observing skills and his ADHD that his head hadn't been served off.

"Duck!" the blonde haired girl screamed and they immediately fell to the ground.

Branches, rose branches (that means thorns) that looked like they had been been dead a long time shot out from in front of them and almost killed all of them.

Leo groaned in pain and pushes himself off the floor and looked forwards. The confusion immediately melting into horror.

Right in front of them was the queen of all evil; Gaia.

They didn't get a chance to she her rise, they had hoped she had been blown to bits with all the rest of the monsters but apparently not, she came back, and in Leo's opinion, uglier than ever.

When she had first risen from her slumber, Leo had to admit, for a million year old goddess she was hot. Gaia had long hair that was brown like fresh soil and eyes as green as leaves on the tree and her skin was sun kissed with apple red flushed cheeks and rose red lips. But the explosion made her disfigured, her hair was mattered with ichor, the blood of the gods, and singed at the end, making it uneven and her skin was scarred from a the weapons that was mixed up in the explosion...did he mention she was ten feet tall? Well now you know.

She was standing a couple of feet from Atlas with a murderous glint in her eyes.

"You," she hissed, "You think you've won just because you defeated a few of my children, but just you see, I will kill this pathetic Titan and I'll have a new army again. You can't stop me!"

They immediately sprang into action, no battle strategies needed to be passed between them, they fought together long enough to predict each others moves.

Leo built a wall of fire defending the Titan and the rest covered him as he kept it tall and strong so Gaia couldn't cross it.

Within minutes he was beading with sweat and was mentally begging the others to hurry up (you try holding a twelve feet wall of fire up with nothing but will power). But he knew it was useless the flames were dying and his friends were dying.

He stole a glance at the Titan whose name he has conveniently forgotten and an idea hit him.

'To storm or fire the world must fall.'

He dashed towards the Titan while trying to keep the flames up but he saw it drop at least a foot.

"Leo!" he heard Jason holler, "What are you doing man?!"

"Trust me on this!" he yelled back, "Just keep her that way!"

Jason nodded his head and resumed his fight.

Leo scrambled towards the Titan and kneeled down in front of him.

"You're Atlas right? Mr. Sky Titan right?" Leo demanded, remembering his name.

The said Titan growled, obviously not find of the nickname, "Yes."

"Well, Mr. Sky Titan. Mother Earth over there is trying to kill you," Leo stated plainly.

"I am well aware of that mortal," he spat.

"So," Leo continued, not fazed by his anger, "I'll make you a deal. I'll hold the sky for you until you defeat Gaia over there. She's weakened a lot by that explosion we caused, but she's not done yet, we need you to kill her."

"Why should I help a demigod, you're kind has caused me nothing but trouble," he growled.

"Because if you don't Gaia will win and wipe out everyone on the planet, including you. I think you'd rather be alive and carrying the sky than lying in pieces on the ground, never to reform if Gaia chooses it."

Atlas went silent and Leo knew he had won.

"So do we have a deal? You have to immediately start and you can't stop until she's dead understand? And then you have to come back here and take back the weight," he prodded.

"Yes," he shifted so Leo could take the weight but the brown haired boy shook his head.

"You have to swear on the River Styx first," he said.

Atlas growled again but complied, "I swear upon the River Styx," thunder rumbled in the distance and it was then Leo immediately took the weight and he saw spots dance before his eyes.

The first sensation Leo felt was the cold clouds and he knew immediately he wasn't going to like it. It was the son of the fire god for crying out loud. He was actually quite tempted to set his fingers on fire to see what would happen (he is a demigod after all, ADHD is just part of the package) but after the next second he found himself barely being able to lift a muscle.

The sky was heavy. It felt like some one had stacked all the elephants of the world on his shoulders as he kneeled in the ground from the weight but he refused to give up. He grunted and tried to stable himself as he tried to blink the black spots away from his eyes.

He tried to focus his attention to the battle to distract himself and was pleased to see that with the Titan on their side it was becoming in favor of them. He saw them pierce Gaia's skin as more and more inchor poured out of her skin but it didn't seem to be enough.

So Leo did the most desperate thing he has ever done; prayed to the gods.

'Please, if you can here me will you please haul your godly hinds here and, I don't know, help out? This isn't just our world, it's yours too. If we loose you loose everything too. Poseidon, your one and only son, my friend, is in hell right now, he's dying and unless we can get to him on time...just please, come down and help. Zeus, Aphrodite, Hades, Ares, your children are all down here fighting for their lives and the lives of the people they love, have a heart for crying out loud! And Dad, Dad I know you said that you're not good with organic life forms but I'm your son, like it or not, so please get your godly beings down here!'

Leo crumpled a little more under the weight but just then there was a roll of thunder and a flash of lightning and there before them stood the twelve Olympian gods, faces grim.

Leo grinned from ear to ear and in a blur of fury the gods launched at Gaia with the demigods. Vaguely, he saw a brown haired girl and blonde haired bo run towards him with a worried look on their face.

"Beauty Queen, Sparky," he murmured before blacking out completely, the last sensation being a cold burden lifted from him.


End file.
